Rushai Olodrion
Rushai Olodrion is a blood elven Paladin from the Lightfire line of elves living in Quel'thalas. Spending most of his life as the son of a wealthy magister, certain events have caused him to leave Silvermoon in the pursuit of justice and revenge. Recently however, his mindset has been radically altered from seeking revenge, to peace, and his actions and words reflect this, as well as his new stance on the Holy Light. Appearance From the eyes of anybody who isn't colorblind, this person is largely out of place within the walls of whatever city he is inhabiting. His rich purple clerical regalia is in stark contrast with the rustic tones of Orgrimmar, the murky faded colors of the Undercity, or even in his own home city, the bright, regal reds and golds of Silvermoon City. This armor that he wears is actually lighter than most paladin's armor. Folding plates seem to be few and far between, and most of the suit is really a robe with a few chains reaching across. Prayer strips are also seen hanging from the belt and chest, when he's not wearing a tabard or tunic. Underneath the lightly armored cassock however, are dark purple and crimson leg plates that reach from foot to hip, which provide the majority of his lower body protection. It would be save to assume that his chest is covered too. The most notable feature about the armor however is, aside from the "Sword and Word" motif sculpted into the shoulder plates, the mask that conceals his face at all times, making him look and sound a little mechanical, or artificial. Out of curiosity, some have tried removing the mask, only to lift the elf off of the ground, which means very few people ever see his face. The rest of his body, however, is not out-of-bounds, and he's occasionally seen walking about town wearing casual clothing, his clerical mask still on, to the chagrin of friends and townsfolk. Personality Because his mask rids him of all facial expression, anybody trying to read him would have to pay attention to his body language. With this in mind, his normal body language indicates everything but the pride and stoicism which his armor would suggest he has. He stands at an angle, his arms closed in near his hips, as if he was trying to put his hands into an invisible pair of pockets. He might look at the ground when somebody is looking at him, and if somebody is speaking with him, he will occasionally turn his head away from the speaker. He displays nearly every form of social awkwardness that you would expect from a recluse, or a young child. At least, towards strangers. Towards people he's more familiar with, he becomes more open and less reclusive. This doesn't mean he's any less unusual, unfortunately. In a group of friends, it wouldn't be unusual for Rushai to be the butt of many jokes. His speech is very formal, ignoring contractions, and certain figures of speech may be taken literally. He appears to be somewhat ditzy or slow, being oblivious to certain social ques, and he might attempt to correct himself on an error with another error. Over all, Rushai is an elf with few elven traits, lacking grace, wit, and savvy. As easy as it would be to call him out or insult him for his apparent lack of intelligence (he would agree with you on many points), certain topics should be approached with great caution. As dim-witted as Rushai may seem, what he really lacks is "street smarts". However, academics are one of his greatest strengths, and in a group conversation that suddenly shifts from "how to impress a potential mate", to "the fauna of Stranglethorn", he could go from silent listener to instant professor in seconds. Slow to learn as he is, Rushai rarely forgets what he has learned (besides names), which is one of the reasons why, despite his many awkward traits, he is a learned scholar, a potent spellcaster, and a vicious warrior. Relationships with Other Races Among the various races and cultures within the Alliance and Horde, he cannot say that he hates any of them these days, though he still harbors discomfort with trolls, especially forest trolls. This of course, doesn't mean that he dislikes all trolls; Zakum seems to embrace Rushai's "elfiness" for use in friendly pranks and lighthearted jokes, but as of yet has not tried to racially attack him. Rushai barely knows who Vol'jin is, but has heard that he is a wise and cunning figure who harbors respect for the whole Horde. Rushai still has many books to read on the trolls, and how to communicate with them, aware that Azeroth's troll tribes are very hesitant to change, and are as a race, wary and watchful of other cultures. He holds great sympathy for the Forsaken for their dehumanization in the eyes of their own kin, seeing parallels between them and the blood elves, and knows that their service to the Scourge which he reviles so much, was not of their choosing. Their grasp on the Holy Light is not only impossible, but would burn them if they could reach it, preventing them from knowing the Light's comfort again; a concept that Rushai fears. Still, he recognizes their spiritual strength of will, and their determination to rebuild Lordaeron, and a new life for themselves. However, the shade Sylvanas Windrunner, a person Rushai greatly respects, frightens him. Her intentions of forging new Forsaken from the recently deceased is a dark concept to him, believing that it's a crime against the natural world. If Rushai knew of Sylvanas' dishonesty towards the rest of the Horde, he would probably grow to distrust, or even hate her. Rushai also sees parallels between the blood elves and the orcs in their fel corruption, but doesn't harbor nearly as much pity, as he assumes the orcs would want none of it. The strength of the orcs of Orgrimmar, aside from their raw strength, is their ritualistic take on warfare. Rushai has some problems with war, obviously, but he sees it as their way of coping with a condition that has effected them for far too long. Rushai also respects Thrall for different reasons: His uncharacteristic traits of thought before action and respect for other cultures are among the things that have earned Rushai's complete respect. Unfortunately, with the arrival of the Warchief Garrosh, the Horde has taken a somewhat different direction over recent years. While lacking the wisdom and respectfulness of the previous warchief, Rushai does see talent and capability in Garrosh. He respects the Bloodhoof tauren for their reverence of nature, and pure, unadulterated spirituality, as well as their generally peaceful nature. Their ways are the ways of the plains. With the birth of the Sunwalkers, Rushai's interest in their culture has suddenly reached new heights, and he wonders what differences (and similarities) there are between them and Paladins of the Holy Light, and where this new path will take their people. Despite their greed and absolute lack of religion, Rushai has undeniably reserved most of his curiosity for the goblins; the strange green men who regularly strap volatile rockets to their backs and pilot rickety shredders and zeppelins on a regular basis. Apparently, at least in Rushai's eyes, the potential for fatal screw-ups is largely a part of the fun of goblin ingenuity, and life wouldn't be worth living without the regular mishaps that make each day more difficult to predict. Goblin success seems to amount to two things: how much you can accomplish by the end of the day, and how much money you can make by doing so. Of course, accomplishment means different things to different goblins. Rushai sees potential in the goblins, however. To humans, the Holy Light is often seen as an ideal used to better one's self in every day life; a philosophy that, in a way, goblins tend to go by. A large roadblock in this spiritual success is to remove the vice of collecting hoards of cash, but Rushai believes that the Bilgewater goblins could, in time, become a more self-enlightened culture. Goblin shamans and priests are even starting to appear, so the Horde must be doing something to them, right? Rushai can only hope. Tropes Since everybody else is doing it, so will I. The Paladin No shit. :I Lovable CowardAppears to be this, as he tries to avoid combat when possible. Genius Ditz The average person may recognize him as the elf with occasional periods of intelligence, but overall, socially inept Blood Knight wannabe who wears ceremonial armor into combat, which he's always running from. Ditzy Genius However, friends will realize that his intelligence is shown more than once in a blue moon, and that despite the fact that he is socially inept, he is no coward: That ceremonial armor is not only reinforced from underneath, but a gift from the Argent Crusade for his services as a Cleric Guardian in Icecrown, during which he saved five men from mountain rockfall by [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BadAss standing his guard and deflecting the falling boulders with his sword and shield.] Badass Bookworm His areas of competence are usually academic in nature, but as mentioned earlier, he saved the lives of soldiers by deflecting falling boulders with a sword and shield. No Social Skills Among the various social no-nos he performs on a regular basis is talking to animals, making inappropriate physical contact (though almost always in an attempt to perform healing magic), and expressing his tolerance and appreciation of Alliance cultures within Horde walls. I Call It Vera Rushai tends to develop personal feelings for works of art, and weaponry is no exception. His enormous purple longsword is named "Liberas", and his halberd is named "Mapho". He has many more weapons in storage, and through the way he treats his weapons it's implied he's named every single one of them. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility Through the imprisoned M'uru (and later the re-ignited Sunwell), Rushai sees nearly every Blood Knight as an irresponsible undeserving wielder of the Holy Light. Category:Blood Elf Category:Paladin Category:Horde Paladin Category:Blood Elf Category:Paladin Category:Horde Paladin